Text Size

“It’s a great honor. I’m a great admirer,” Obama said. “Thank you so much for receiving me.”

It turns out that Obama didn’t have to worry. By the end, when reporters were summoned back to the papal library — by a bell, no less — the two men were standing on the opposite side of the room, engaged in friendly banter. Obama appeared far more relaxed, and journalists who cover the Vatican later remarked that Francis, too, seemed unusually animated.

The meeting clearly held symbolic importance for Obama — aides described it as a personal highlight of his trip through Europe. Senior officials said the president, once a community organizer who worked in Catholic churches in Chicago, was taken by the pope’s message on poverty and charisma, just like millions of others around the world. He feels a certain kinship with the pope, one adviser said.

For 52 minutes — longer than expected — the pope and the president talked alone in the papal library, absent the dozens of handlers, security personnel and senior staff that shadow Obama’s every move. The one-on-one meeting is unheard of on foreign visits, though routine for audiences with the pope.

There was an air of mystery Thursday night, even among senior staff, of what exactly the two men discussed.

Obama had actually been there before, in July 2009 to meet Pope Benedict, but that meeting lasted only 30 minutes and lacked the hype surrounding this one.

Strict Vatican traditions cloaked the meeting, from the solemn and synchronized procession led by the Papal Gentlemen through Clementine Hall to the choreographed greeting between the two leading world figures.

They bonded over the suffocating customs and requirements involved in their jobs. Every step, every movement, of their encounter was scripted. Any deviation or disruption caused by the small group of American and Vatican reporters huddled in a room just off the library drew the ire of the Vatican handlers, who weren’t shy about pushing the reporters and photographers back into line.

“His Holiness is probably the only person in the world who has to put up with more protocol than me,” the president joked.

There was speculation ahead of the visit that Francis would bring up the contraceptive coverage mandate under the Affordable Care Act, a policy that has divided Obama and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Or that Francis might press Obama on abortion and other hot button social issues, distracting from the income inequality issues that the White House prefers to focus on and potentially embarrassing the president.

If the meeting had tense moments, it wasn’t apparent during ceremonial gift exchange that followed. The president smiled quite a bit, saying things to the pope that could not always be heard by the pool but often made Francis smile or laugh.

The president explained that he brought a custom-made seed chest featuring fruit and vegetable seeds used in the White House Garden. Obama mentioned that he had heard that Francis would open to the public the gardens of the papal summer residence.

“These, I think, are carrots,” he said, holding a pouch. “Each one has a different seed in it. The box is made from timber from the first cathedral to open in the United States in Baltimore.”

“If you have a chance to come to the White House,” Obama added, “we can show you our garden as well.”